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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to allow my Ds work hard for SATs?

31 replies

Titsend · 09/08/2020 09:09

I hear all the time that either "SATs are just for the league tables" or "Not a real picture of what they can do come GCSE predictions" but my Ds has worked his arse of all through the start of July and into the holidays because he wants to be top of the class and do well next year.

Many people think it isn't a true reflection of what the kid can do but my older Dd (now 13) had a turning point when working for the SATs and it really really helped her. She was average for maths but is now coming top of the class (set 1 of 5 in everything) and I am so glad she did work.

I know this doesn't apply for all kids but should I tell him to ease of printing papers out?

OP posts:
Bitchinkitchen · 09/08/2020 09:10

What does his school say?

Original poster
Titsend · 09/08/2020 09:21

We are not in contact with his school due to Covid-19 (Just emails)

OP posts:
Fandajji · 09/08/2020 09:25

In our school we have had top sets full of children who had worked very, very hard for their SATs and they struggled too keep up with those who had breezed through them.

Don't discourage hard work, but do ensure that ethic is sustainable. We also do CAT tests which tend to determine setting rather than SATs and then review yearly.

Don't push, just encourage and be realistic would be my advice as a teacher and parent.

And good luck to him ☺️

AreweatChristmasyet · 09/08/2020 09:26

Ffs, kids aren’t even back at school yetHmm

EweSurname · 09/08/2020 09:27

Are these the year 6 SATs?

Bitchinkitchen · 09/08/2020 09:29

Maybe email them?

I'd be very, very wary of this sort of thing. Piling on the pressure on a child that young, even if he's doing it himself, is likely to be stressful anxiety-provoking.

If he wants to work, maybe rather than SAT papers, you should find something he's interested in and get him to do a project on that instead.

slashlover · 09/08/2020 09:29

Of course allow him to work hard, why would you encourage him not to work? If the SATs are what spur him on then fair enough, just make him fully aware that they aren't everything and not doing well isn't the end of the world.

Original poster
Titsend · 09/08/2020 09:29

Yes

OP posts:
Original poster
Titsend · 09/08/2020 09:30

They are year 6

OP posts:
NailsNeedDoing · 09/08/2020 09:33

Of course your DS should work as hard as he can for the SATs, although I wouldn’t put the focus on SATs results, I’d put the focus on it being the last year of primary which is important, and that we should work hard at anything we do. He deserves to be encouraged to do his best at anything positive he wants to do, and negativity around SATs shouldn’t take that away from him.

It’s not entirely true that SATs are just for league tables, they can make a difference to where students are set and what they are predicted at secondary school, even when they do their own tests. I don’t like the SATs system as it is, but it’s the one we have so we have to work with it.

PotteringAlong · 09/08/2020 09:34

The best thing he can do in his sats is underperform.

If he does brilliantly then his targets for his GCSE’s will be horrendously high and the pressure will correspond to that.

BUT - if he underperforms, his targets won’t be so high. And his secondary school will soon realise what he is capable of. And he will be great for their progress 8 score because they can add value to him (if his target is a 9 and he gets a 9 he’s worth 0. If his target is a 6 and he gets an 8 he’s worth +2). So he will get all the help under the sun and he doesn’t have masses of pressure.

Honestly, the last thing you want is your child doing well in their SATS

elenacampana · 09/08/2020 09:36

Printing off papers is only worth it if he’s seeing what he’s getting wrong and then working on the areas he’s making mistakes with - as an ex teacher, I found this was the biggest issue with exam paper studying.

Sounds like you have a diligent, motivated kid and that’s great. I would probably limit how much time he spends studying, esp during the school holidays. Excessive studying leads to burn out, increased anxiety and obsessive behaviour. There are lots of ways to learn in this world and completing exam paper after exam paper isn’t actually learning or studying, just a way to see what you know.

mosquitofeast · 09/08/2020 09:40

Don't discourage hard work, but do ensure that ethic is sustainable. We also do CAT tests which tend to determine setting rather than SATs and then review yearly.

CAT tests are useless for assessing potential. All they tell you is how many children have practiced CAT tests before

mosquitofeast · 09/08/2020 09:41

I think its great your son is working hard and motivated.

Just be sure to reward the effort, not the result

Fandajji · 09/08/2020 10:12

mosquito oh I know CATs are just as bad as SATs! It's just what we use for finalising sets in our school which is what the OP has said is her son's aim

Ozgirl75 · 09/08/2020 10:19

We don’t have SATs here in Australia but we have Naplan which I believe is similar. My son did this last year, did some practice papers so he knew what to expect and generally prepared a bit. Came top in all of them (they aren’t a table so quite a few children got “top” marks) and felt very encouraged at what he can achieve with work.
I feel sometimes like on here it’s some weird competition to see whose child can do the least work whilst achieving the highest marks. It’s odd - at work you would never be rewarded for this type of thinking and I will certainly be continuing to reinforce that hard work generally equals good results.

Illuyanka · 09/08/2020 10:29

I don't think sats are for school really, it's for children. And since the new SATs started, their difficulty is capped( no lv5/6 like in the past), so getting 100% doesn't equate to being gifted either. It covers what the children learned in primary, so it's great to study hard for it. But some of the things especially in English are so obscure I doubt if you had to work really hard for sats and getting high score doesn't guarantee the success in secondary either.

TeenPlusTwenties · 09/08/2020 10:37

I disagree with Pottering You don't want to 'over perform' but you don't want to 'under perform' either. If you under perform in SATs then secondary won't expect so much of you and if you continue to 'under perform' they won't push as they won't realise.

If your DC wants to work hard for their SATs it will put them in a more solid position for starting secondary. Though honestly printing out and doing practice papers now for May runs a massive risk of boredom / burn out during year 6.

MsMarple · 09/08/2020 10:39

@PotteringAlong

The best thing he can do in his sats is underperform.

If he does brilliantly then his targets for his GCSE’s will be horrendously high and the pressure will correspond to that.

BUT - if he underperforms, his targets won’t be so high. And his secondary school will soon realise what he is capable of. And he will be great for their progress 8 score because they can add value to him (if his target is a 9 and he gets a 9 he’s worth 0. If his target is a 6 and he gets an 8 he’s worth +2). So he will get all the help under the sun and he doesn’t have masses of pressure.

Honestly, the last thing you want is your child doing well in their SATS

I don’t think we can be sure that SAT grades won’t matter in the future. Look at how they are currently moderating ALevel/GCSE grades based on statistics. I know this is supposed to be a one-off year, but you just can’t tell.

Surely it’s better for children to try their best whatever the test is? Seeing that hard work resulted in better grades can’t be a bad lesson to learn, can it?

MumW · 09/08/2020 10:46

I'd say that you should be encouraging him to work hard but help him, in an age appropriate way, to understand about work/life balances and burnout.

Illuyanka · 09/08/2020 14:22

I agree with TeenPlusTwenties. Over performing nor under performing neither help the children. Point of sats is to measure the children's secondary readiness as far as I understand.
If he is motivated and able, it maybe better for him to do work on something to make sure his basic are secure and teach him to think outside of box, rather than trying to get high score on sats this early stage. If he is able, he will get high score no matter what he does or doesn't. If he gets high score because he has done millions of worksheets, remember he maybe in the class with children who did put no effort but got high score regardress.

bookmum08 · 09/08/2020 14:37

No SATs have been done this year. Your son may have done a good job in working hard but that won't be 'for the SATs' because they don't exist for this year. He won't ever do the SATs now. The moment has passed.

WorraLiberty · 09/08/2020 14:41

I know this doesn't apply for all kids but should I tell him to ease of printing papers out?

I find that question a little strange unless you're going to drip-feed that he's really stressed out, or not getting enough exercise/time with friends etc.

If he's happy let him do what he wants.

bookmum08 · 09/08/2020 14:42

Sorry - do you mean your son is going into Year 6 in September? If so he needs to wait and see what's happening next academic year.
If he loves learning and knowledge then he can do that but just doing some old papers isn't really learning much as it's only Maths and English.

SandlakeRd · 09/08/2020 14:45

Have I missed something? As a PP said I thought there were no SATS this year? Is your son going into year 6 in September? If that is the case why start so early?

If he is going into year 7 then he won’t be doing them anyway?

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